Board time is increasingly dominated by monitoring and assurance activities, yet the importance of quality discussion and debate on strategy and looking ahead to future challenges has never been more important. In our governance reviews, we ask Board members about the balance of time spent and consistently hear that they want more time on strategy and future thinking, seeing this as the highest value activity that they undertake. So, how can Boards carve out time for strategy whilst managing the weight of monitoring and assurance they must undertake?
1. Away days
The trusty away day comes into its own when it comes to strategic discussion and giving boards the opportunity to explore issues in more depth than normal meetings allow. We recommend considering the use of external speakers and facilitators to provide sector context and to guide discussions so that all Board and Executive team members can participate fully in the discussions. Increasingly, Boards are moving to two away days per year to provide sufficient time for quality strategic discussions and deep dives into key areas.
2. Deep dives
Many boards use deep dive sessions to focus on a particular area of strategy or performance. This is a good way to explore the strategies that underpin the overall strategy. We have recently seen excellent sessions exploring research strategies, approaches to REF and sessions on finance and student recruitment strategies.
3. Structuring Board agendas and planning ahead
Structuring Board agendas so that strategic items are grouped together and come at the beginning of board meetings. These items are also given more time than other agenda items. Most institutions we review are taking this approach to agenda management. And the planning doesn’t just focus on each individual meeting; agendas are being planned over a 12-18 month horizon so that strategic matters are given sufficient time over the course of an academic year or more.
4. VC briefings
Some institutions have used termly video briefings with the VC for Board members to keep in touch with strategic issues facing the institution and to explore how the senior leadership team are responding in a more discursive forum. This helps to ensure that issues can be shared more promptly and strategic matters aired prior to formal Board meetings.
5. Strategic meetings
Some Boards have split meetings so that there are strategy and assurance meetings separately and alternately. This enables agenda items to be organised by type but requires more frequent meetings for this approach to work. However, some institutions have found that shorter, more frequent meetings (with some online-only) is working for them in terms of balancing time and enabling them to be more agile in their decision making.
6. Cover sheets
It sounds like a minor issue but it’s a crucial way to help Boards navigate Board packs and ensure they understand the strategic context of items presented to them. Most Boards are making better use of cover sheets than in the past. Cover sheets which clearly signpost strategic issues and show how papers are aligned to institutional strategy are the norm now and can help to provide members with insight as to how strategy is being delivered and monitored.
7. Strategy working groups
Some institutions are making use of strategy groups – usually time-limited Board working groups to help develop or deliver strategy. Whilst this ensures more active engagement on strategy it can mean that there is less whole board engagement on strategic matters.
8. Executive reports
Vice-Chancellor or Executive team reports are frequently being structured so that they are clearly aligned to the strategic priorities or pillars. This type of reporting helps to ensure that the Board are receiving regular updates on strategic delivery and can ask questions aligned to strategic priorities.
9. KPI dashboards
Some Boards are making good use of KPI dashboards to enable clear reporting on strategic KPIs. Regular Board reports on the dashboard enable Board members to have clear oversight of strategic delivery and corresponding KPIs. Strong reports also include benchmarking data so that the Board are able to see how the institution is performing against its competitors. This adds valuable insight to strategic discussions.
Taken together, the actions set out above can enable Boards to give more time to strategic matters and be more effective an agile in their operations.
Halpin is part of Huron Consulting Group, and we’re the home of experts in higher education governance. If you’d like to discuss your institution’s Board and governance needs in more detail, get in touch.